


Promotion

by adjectivebear (HealerAriel)



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Cora gives good life advice, Gen, Sisterly bonding, and also did not sign up for this shit, whether Cora likes it or not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-17
Updated: 2017-04-17
Packaged: 2018-10-20 02:40:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10653219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HealerAriel/pseuds/adjectivebear
Summary: In which Cora has to give the Pathfinder advice about boys because apparently this her life now.





	Promotion

Cora liked Grace. **  
**

Really.

Sure, at first Cora had been justifiably annoyed that Alec Ryder had opted to transfer the role of Pathfinder to his unprepared twenty-two-year-old daughter rather than his extensively-trained second, but she wasn’t _unreasonable_. Alec was a parent, his child had been dying, and he’d made a perfectly understandable split-second decision to save her.

And for all of Grace’s inexperience, she was… actually doing a pretty good job. Hell, the angara seemed to not only tolerate but genuinely _like_ her, which was something the most seasoned of diplomats might not have been able to pull off in a matter of decades. Establishing that sort of relationship within _weeks_ was absolutely unprecedented, and (if pressed) Cora had to admit that she doubted she or Alec could have done any better.

That being said, there _were_ times Cora wished Alec were still the one in charge.

This was one of those times.

“Come again?” Cora asked, needing to make absolutely, positively sure that the Pathfinder fidgeting in front of her had actually said what Cora thought she’d said.

“How can you tell if a guy likes you?”

Yep. The Initiative’s hopes and dreams did, indeed, rest in the hands of someone who’d come in here to ask about boys.

Fantastic.

“Like, _actually_ likes you,” Grace continued, “not just ‘will-have-sex-with-you-if-he’s-bored’ likes you. For _real_ likes you. How do you know?”

“Okay. Wow,” Cora said, setting down her data pad. “So, unpacking this piece by piece: no one who has sex with you because he’s bored likes you _at all_ –”

“It’s not like they ever tell you that’s why _before_ you have sex with them–”

“–and you should, under no circumstances, spend any more time with such a person, because _that is not a good person_.”

Grace opened her mouth as if to offer a rebuttal. She closed it. “Noted.”

“Secondly, I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that you didn’t exactly have _great_ self-esteem in college?”

“That would be accurate.”

“Alright, so: work on that,” Cora said. “Assholes can smell low self-esteem a mile away, and they’ll continue to take advantage of it if you let them. You’re a smart girl, and you’re turning out to be a very capable Pathfinder, so you should really give yourself a little more credit in terms of what you deserve from men.”

“Awww, _Cora_ –”

“Don’t push your luck.”

“Sorry.”

“As to how to tell if someone _does_ like you, that kind of depends on the guy. Was there… anyone in particular you had in mind?”

“What? _No_ ,” Grace said far too quickly. “It was a _totally_ hypothetical question.”

Oh, lord.

“Uh-huh,” Cora said flatly. “So if, _hypothetically_ , you had a huge crush on Liam that everyone knows about–”

“I don’t–! _He’s_ just–! I mean, why would you even _think_ –?” Grace deflated. “ _Everyone_ knows?”

“Yep.”

“Even Liam?”

“ _Especially_ Liam.”

“That’s… not great,” Grace said, raking a hand through her hair.

“My _point_ is that you’d probably get a lot farther talking to _him_ about this.”

Grace looked mildly ill.

_Oh, for God’s sake, Harper, throw the kid a bone._

“But… if it helps,” Cora said, “from what I’ve seen, he seems to like you, too.”

Grace’s face broke into an absolutely dopey grin. “Thanks, Cora,” she chirped, darting from the room.

Cora sighed and picked the data pad back up, trying to find where she’d left off.

The door opened again.

“So, do you think he, like, _like_ -likes me, or–”

“ _Ryder_.”

“Right.”


End file.
